The Google Thread. (because, we totally need one that isn't just android focused)

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Rumoured heavily are the Google Smartwatch, Hangouts (Babble - the unified messaging idea seems to be going by Hangouts) and a Gmail update that will make the phone app more like the tablet version of Gmail it seems: http://www.androidauthority.com/goog...h-real-207878/

Also rumoured are a new updated Nexus 7. I'm kinda keen to see what new phone comes out, if any.

well, when I went to my music library today I got offered a free trial of their new "All Access" music service, which seems to be a Spotify style subscription service.

And my Play Music library has been redesigned (rather nicely) and now has a new feature called "Listen Now" which "figures out what to play next. The more you listen the better Listen Now gets at surfacing the good stuff." Which is a new feature of the free music service it seems.

The update of the browser player was much needed, and is a bit sharper for sure. Wonder if they've updated the app as well to match.

edit: the "Instant Mixes" are in their own tab now, which is much handier than being randomly scattered through your recent music page.

Albums and artists and everything looks more like the Google Now cards, which I guess is making for a more cohesive design across all of google, as it's rather like how posts look in Google+ on the app.

Omg. So the new layout of Google+ in the desktop browser version is quite different indeed. It's much closer to the App version that I see on my tablet, and all the better for it. Much better use of the space, and loads of new features too (apparently 41, but I've not checked) It has definitely updated the photos section of the service, making it clearer

Hangouts is indeed the new name for all things messaging and google and replaces all things Google Talk it seems and merges Talk and Hangouts a bit better.

NOTE: If you aren't yet able to install Hangouts on your phone or tablet, or the Play Store "Open" button takes you to the old Talk app, hang tight, we are rolling out Hangouts to everyone over the course of several days. Rest assured Hangouts will be available soon for all Android 2.3+ devices, tablets included!

I don't have it yet on either of my devices, but the chat app in my browser (gmail/google+/etc) has already been updated.

The new version of the Music app is beautiful too - a much needed revamp that updated it from the rather outdated look it had. It was a great music app before now, but always looked a bit ugly, but the current update is much prettier indeed, and again looks more cohesive with the Google Now / Google+ look.

Oh, and Google Books now allows you to add your own pdf/epub books too to seems. But so far you can only upload those files from a computer browser and then it'll sync with your device, which is less helpful for people like me who are often away from their computer and on their tablet instead. But still, it's a step in the right direction and might tempt me away from using the Kobo app that is my main ereader at the moment precisely because of the support for adding your own pdf and epub books to your library. However, it's not showing up as an option for me here in Ireland at the moment, though they've allowed me to download the Books app finally. Perhaps it's being rolled out slowly :/

They've integrated Google Wallet with Gmail so you can send payments to someone from within your email if needed. (that's fucking handy, actually.) Again, a lot of the features of Google Wallet aren't available in Ireland yet, so I'm kinda restricted in how much that will affect me.

I'm a Spotify Premium and Google Play Music user. After playing around with the new subscription service I can't see switching at this point. The new G service has potential and I could be compelled in the future, which is annoying as they are grandfathering a lower price if you subscribe early. Developing a standalone app (off android) would be essential.

Releasing this without a iOS platform seems really ill-advised as iphone US marketshare is around 40%. I can't find any information on if Google are trying to gate it in for android/web, or if there simply hasn't been time to develop off platform yet.

Ok, so my phone and tablet have updated to the Hangouts app and the new Google+ app as well (which is mostly the same, just some changes to the profile layouts, and the new photo improvements and stuff.) Auto-backup is now at full image quality, which is snazzy I guess, but my phone's camera is still a bit shit, so I wasn't expecting much, but that combined with the auto-enhance and all that makes the photos look half decent on my tablet and phone screens, but on this PC in work, not so much. But then, I guess it's a much better service for people whose phones aren't about 3 years old